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Affluent Investors and Taxes

Wealth level studies conducted earlier this year by Spectrem Group find that non-Millionaires want the lowest tax-rates while surprisingly the wealthiest households would be willing to pay a higher tax rate.

Almost thirty percent (27 percent) feel they should pay a tax rate of 11 percent to 15 percent, while the same amount (21 percent each) feel they should pay 8 percent to 10 percent and 16 percent to 20 percent.

26 percent of non-Millionaires feel they should pay a tax rate of 8 percent to 10 percent.

Seventy percent of high net worth investors chose tax increases as one of their primary concerns. Millionaires with a net worth of up to $5 million showed a higher concern this year than last (74 percent vs. 71 percent) over tax increases.

The higher the tax rate, the larger the differences. Two-in-ten high net worth investors surveyed said they should pay a tax rate of between 21 percent and 25 percent. While less than 15 percent (13 percent) of Millionaires agreed. High net worth respondents were more than twice as willing as Millionaires with less than $5 million net worth to say they thought they should pay a tax rate between 26 percent and 30 percent (13 percent vs. 5 percent).

Ultra high net worth households with a net worth between $5 million and $24.9 million (not including primary residence) are likelier than their less wealthy counterparts to say they should be paying higher tax rates. The highest percentage of those surveyed (25 percent) said they felt they should be paying between 16 percent and 20 percent, compared with 21 percent of Millionaires with a net worth between $1 million and $4.9 million willing to pay that much, and 13 percent of non-Millionaires with a net worth of at least $100,000.